1302 – Khawlah al-Ansariyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Some men handle Allah’s property without any right; for them is the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.” Recorded by al-Bukhari (1).

Glossary of the ḥadīth
– yata-khawwadūna fī māl Allāh (to meddle with Allah’s wealth): Ibn al-Athir states in al-Nihāyah that the root meaning of khawd is to wade through water; the word then came to mean becoming involved in something and managing it. Here it refers to anyone who deals with Allah’s wealth in a manner displeasing to Him.

Points derived from the ḥadīth
1 – Allah has made wealth a means of support and enjoyment in this worldly life. He said, “Do not entrust to the immature your property which Allah has made a means of support for you” [al-Nisāʾ 4:5], and He said, “Those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly but keep to a just balance between the two” [al-Furqān 25:67]. Wealth therefore brings immense benefit in both religion and worldly affairs.

2 – Spending it in ways that are not good or genuinely beneficial is foolishness, extravagance, and waste. Allah said, “Indeed, the squanderers are brothers of the devils” [al-Isrāʾ 17:27].

3 – The money possessed by Muslims and by their governors is, in fact, Allah’s property; He has made them trustees over it so that they may channel it through lawful and beneficial avenues that serve the interests of this world and the next. Allah said, “Spend out of that of which He has made you trustees” [al-Ḥadīd 57:7], meaning that He has appointed you as successors with authority to dispose of it. The wealth belongs to Allah, and His servants are merely His deputies regarding it; they must therefore direct it toward that which pleases Him.